by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

Don't be surprised if Miami Heat star LeBron James distances himself from comments made by former teammate Roger Mason, who indicated in a TV interview that James would lead a boycott if Donald Sterling still owned the Los Angeles Clippers at the start of the 2014-15 season.

Mason, the National Basketball Players Association first vice president, told Showtime's Jim Rome, "If it's not handled by ... the start of next season, I don't see how we're playing basketball. I was just in the locker room with LeBron. At the end of the day, you know we have leaders, we have player reps, we've got executive committee members. ... Leaders of the teams, they're all saying the same thing: 'If this man is still in place, we ain't playing.' "

Significant factors to consider: One person speaks for James on this issue, and that's James. He has been very direct in letting reporters know he does not want Sterling to own the Clippers, and as important, he also expressed his support for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

James also has perspective. Even though the NBA is moving toward voting to terminate Sterling's ownership of the Clippers, forcing an owner to sell a business that could sell for $1 billion or more is not easy and won't happen in a matter of weeks. It is a complex and unprecedented situation for the league.

"At the end of the day, this is going to be a long litigation when it comes to that," James said Sunday. "This guy who's owned the team since the '80s is not going to just give the team up in a day. So we understand it's going to be long, but we want what's right."

Magic Johnson also told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he is more interested that the NBA get the Sterling situation right rather than do it quickly.

James is not scheduled to meet with news reporters until early Wednesday evening before Game 5 against the Brooklyn Nets.